Garment-supporter.



E. L. BRADFORD.

GARMENT SUPPORTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1912.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

EDWIN L. BRADFORD, OF TAKOMA PARK, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

GARMENT-SUPPORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19,1913.

Application filed May 21, 1912. Serial No. 698,683.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN L. BRADFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Takoma Park, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Supporters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the construction of garment supporters and more especially to garters of the type wherein a band of flexible or elastic material is designed to en circle the leg; and the principal object of the invention is to produce a device of this character in which the fabric directing plate, or member that serves to maintain the angular relation of the leg-encircling and stocking-supporting portions of the band, is of a form that permits the facile assembly therewith of the flexible band in a simple manner resulting in fully protecting the plate from contact with the leg of the wearer.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention, the scope whereof is pointed out in the claims, F igure 1 is a side elevation of a garter constructed in accordance with my invention, the parts being shown in the positions they occupy when in use; Fig. 2 is a detail View in side elevation of a portion of the garter shown in Fig. 1, the clasp devices being separated; Fig. 3 is a detail view, in elevation, of the inside of the garter adjacent to the sustaining plate or form upon which the flexible band is folded; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the knot sustaining plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the manner of assembling the flexible band and the sustaining plate or form; Fig. 6 is a detail section, taken in the plane of the line 66, Fig. 5, illustrating the preferred manner of forming the loop in the flexible band for connecting the garment attaching member thereto; Fig. 7 is a detail view of the band sustaining frame, taken in the plane of the line 77, Fig. 4;

and Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail section of the garter taken in the plane of the line 88, Fig. 1.

Like symbols indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

I w1ll now proceed to describe my invention more fully, so that others skilled in the essential to my invention, it being intended as illustrative merely, and, likewise, the presence or absence of the slide 3, which is commonly employed for adjusting the size of the garter, is immaterial.

As more particularly shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, the change in the direction of the band 1 necessary to form the depending tab or loop 1 is effected and maintained through the instrumentality of a plate 4 which serves as a frame or form for sup porting and preserving the shape of the single or overhand knot which, as will appear upon inspection of the views referred to, is formed in the band 1 and enfolds said plate 4 so as to prevent contact of the inner side thereof with the leg of the wearer. The plate or frame 1, which is preferably formed from resilient sheet metal and which may be of approximately pentagonal configuration, is preferably provided with a clasp member 4: beneath which the flexible band 1 is adapted to extend, the plate being for that purpose formed with suitable openings 4. 4t through which the band may pass so as to leave the clasp member 4 exposed. In order to aid in assuring the proper direction of the leg encircling portion of the band 1, as well as for the purpose of preventing any possibility of the band being lifted or pulled away from the inner surface of the plate 4 by reason of strains normally incident to the use of the garter, the plate is preferably provided near its outer edge with an open ing or slot 4 through which the band may pass; and in case the depending tab 1 is formed as a loop, the end of this tab-forming portion of the band may be conveniently secured to the plate by providing the latter with depressions 4P, 4 which form a seat adjacent to that margin of the plate nearest the tab for the reception of the metal binding 1 with which this end of the band 1 may in such case be provided.

The form of clasp member l with which the knot sustaining plate or frame 4 is pref erably provided is fashioned as an outwardly extending boss which is provided with a small centrally disposed projection 4 and which is slotted at its base, as at l to receive the tongue 5 of a mating clasp member 5 suitably secured to the leg encircling portion of the band 1. The outer edge or lip of the clasp member 5 may be advantageously bent or curled slightly downward, as shown at 5", so that when the clasp members are in operative engagement the edge of the member 5 at the inner end of the slot formed therein is held firmly down behind the small centrally disposed projection l as more particularly shown in Fig. 8, the accidental disengagement of the clasp members being thus prevented.

Upon reference to the drawings, and more especially to Fig. 5 thereof, it will be seen that the flexible band 1 is-folded upon the frame 4 so as to form a single or overhand knot.v This form of knot, it will be perceived, results when one end of the band 1 is threaded through the slot 4 from the outside of the frame l, is then passed across the inner face of the frame, thence led through the openings l and 46 so as to pass beneath the clasp member 49, then led across the inner face of the frame, here crossing itself at an angle, and finally passed through the opening l from the outside and thence led downwardly across the inner face of the frame 4 to form the depending tab for supporting the garment attaching means 2. lVhen the depending tab 1 is to be formed as a loop, as shown in Fig. 6, the bound end 1 of the band 1 is entered in the scat constituted by the depressions a and l as heretofore described.

What I claim is:

1. In a garter, the combination with garment attaching means, of a frame member, a flexible band folded upon said frame member to form an overhand knot, and means for maintaining in the flexible band a loop.

which is adapted to encircle the leg.

2. In a garter, the combination with garment attaching means, of a frame member, a flexible band folded upon said frame member and crossing itself at an angle on the inner face of said frame, and means carried by the flexible band for detachably maintaining the latter in a loop which is adapted to encircle the leg.

and a flexible band folded upon said frame member to form an overhand knot and crossing itself at an angle a plurality of times.

5. In a garter, the combination with garment attaching means, of a flexible band," a clasp member carried by said band, and a frame member upon which said band is folded to form an overhand knot, said frame being provided with a clasp member adapt-' ed to engage and coact with the clasp member aforesaid and being also provided with a plurality of openings through which the band is threaded to pass beneath the clasp member carried by the frame, and said band being folded across the outer margin of said frame.

6. In a garter, the combination with garment attaching means, of a flexible band, a clasp member carried by said band, and a frame member upon which said band is folded to form an. overhand knot, said frame being provided with a clasp member ada t ed to cooperate with the clasp member afore-' said and being provided with openings through which said band is threaded to pass beneath the clasp member of the frame and being also provided with an opening located adjacent to the margin of said frame through which the band is threaded.

7 In a garter, the combination with garment attaching means, of a frame member, a flexible band folded upon said frame to form an overhand knot, and a clasp member carried by said band, said bandcomprising a le -encircling portion and a loop which depends from said frame and to which the garment attaching means is connected, and said frame being provided with a clasp member adapted to coiiperate with the clasp member aforesaid and being provided with a plurality of openings through which the said band is threaded and being also provided with a depressed seat for receiving the end of the portion of said band which forms the loop to which the garment attaching means is connected.

8. In a garter, the combination with a frame member having a plurality of marginal edges making oblique angles with each other, of garment attaching means flexibly secured to said frame, a flexible band folded to pass across the outer margin of said ture, in the presence of two subscribing Witframe and crossing itself at an angle a plunesses. i-ality of times on the inner side of said frame, and means for maintaining in the EDWIN BRADFORD 5 flexible band a loop Which is adapted to Witnesses:

encircle the leg. N. CURTIS LAMMOND, In testimony whereof I afiix my signa- GEORGE E. EDELIN.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

